1968-2008: 40 Years of Franco F. Vincieri's Natural Products Research.

This paper presents an overview of Prof. Vincieri's accomplishments in his career as a researcher in the field of pharmacognosy (pharmaceutical biology), analytical phytochemistry and pharmaceutical technology applied to herbal drug preparations at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of Florence. This article is a recognition of his valuable contributions to these research fields, especially for his outstanding and innovative interdisciplinary studies on the quality control of herbal drugs, herbal drug preparations, herbal medicinal products, botanical food supplements, and some "special foods" such as grapes, wines, olives and olive oil

Non-nitrogenous Plant-derived Constituents with Antiplasmodial Activity:

The paper is a compilation of the studies reported in the literature concerning non-nitrogenous natural constituents that have shown antiplasmodial activity and aims to provide a basis for further in vivo studies as well as for clinical trials to develop new antimalarial agents. Due to the increasingly unsatisfactory outcomes for N-heterocyclic drugs, coupled with the rising incidence of the deadly falciparum malaria, the advent of non-nitrogenous lead compounds is timely, signaling a new era of antimalarial chemotherapy. Currently a few non-nitrogenous molecules are used in therapy, but many promising molecules of plant origin are under study, such as peroxide sesquiterpenes, quinoid triterpenes, quassinoids, gallic acid derivatives, lignans, flavonoids and biflavonoids, xanthones, naphthoquinones and phenylanthraquinones. Many of these constituents are isolated from plants used traditionally to treat malaria and fever. Ethnopharmacology can still be considered as a rich source of lead molecules

Herbal medicinal products versus botanical-food supplements in the European market: state of art and perspectives.

Botanical products marketed in Europe are diverse, classified as herbal medicinal products, dietary supplements, cosmetics, foods and beverages depending on the relevant applicable legislation. Many factors are taken into account in the classification of a botanical product (e.g. intended use, labeling, preparations and dosages) according to how it is placed on the market. Herbal medicinal products (HMPs) can only be sold in pharmacies, under the supervision of a pharmacist, and are marketed after full or simplified registration procedures according to their classification, i.e. as over-the-counter drugs (OTC) available without special restrictions and prescription only medicine (POM), which must be prescribed by a licensed medical practitioner. The dietary supplement segment is also sold in the market in dose form (such as capsules, tablets, ampoules of liquids, drops etc) and represents 15-20% of the botanical market at the European level with high variability among each country (i.e. in Italy it reaches up to 80%). In many cases the distinction between medicinal products and food supplements has generated borderline botanical-sourced products, which generally produce confusion and mislead the consumers. As a consequence, there is an urgent need of consumer education and in addition to collect comprehensive data and make this database systematically available to herbalists, nutritionists and medical specialists for a proper classification and harmonization of the use of botanical ingredients, and, as consequence, a correct use of these products

Bio)Sensor Approach in the Evaluation of Polyphenols in Vegetal Matrices

Polyphenols are compounds widely distributed in the plant kingdom and have attracted much attention, because of their health benefits and important properties such as radical scavenging, metal chelating agents, inhibitors of lipoprotein oxidation, anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic activities. Due to their important role in the diet and in therapy, it is important to estimate their content in the different matrices of interest. Besides classical analytical methods, new emerging technologies have also appeared in the last decade aiming for simple and eventually cheap detection of polyphenols. This review focused on the recent applications of biosensing-based technologies for polyphenol estimation in vegetal matrices, using different transduction principles. These analytical tools are generally fast, giving responses in the order of a few seconds/minutes, and also very sensitive and generally selective (mainly depending on the enzyme used). Direct measurements in most of the investigated matrices were possible, both in aqueous and organic phases

Black Cohosh and Climacteric Symptoms: Growing Knowledge about the Efficacy and Safety:

Hormone therapy of perimenopausal and postmenopausal disorders includes, in many cases, treatment with estrogens but many recent studies have raised the question as to whether it brings more dangers than benefits for patients. This has led to an increased use of alternatives, mainly plant derived extracts. Among the botanical supplements and herbal medicinal products, extracts of the rhizome and roots of black cohosh are used worldwide for these purposes. This plant has a long-standing history of being used to treat climateric complaints and its clinical efficacy has been proven in several double-blind placebo controlled studies. In terms of safety, minor and transient adverse effects such as nausea, vomiting, headaches and dizzness have been observed in clinical trials. A few cases of hepatotoxicity have been reported, but a direct association with the use of black cohosh has not been demonstrated. Black cohosh was first thought to be estrogenic in nature, but recent studies have proposed it as selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) and serotoninergic, dopaminergic and cholinergic mechanisms have been described. Black cohosh shows great promise for relief of menopausal symptoms, primarly of vasomotor and possibly mood symptoms, with an overall positive safety profile of at least 6 months and likely longer. However, data from longer and in some cases more rigorous clinical trials are necessary to assess high efficacy and to substantiate safety

Dendrosomal curcumin nanoformulation downregulates pluripotency genes via miR-145 activation in U87MG glioblastoma cells.

Glioblastoma is an invasive tumor of the central nervous system. Tumor recurrence resulting from ineffective current treatments, mainly due to the blood–brain barrier, highlights the need for innovative therapeutic alternatives. The recent availability of nanotechnology represents a novel targeted strategy in cancer therapy. Natural products have received considerable attention for cancer therapy because of general lower side effects. Curcumin is a new candidate for anticancer treatment, but its low bioavailability and water solubility represent the main disadvantages of its use. Here, curcumin was efficiently encapsulated in a nontoxic nanocarrier, termed dendrosome, to overcome these problems. Dendrosomal curcumin was prepared as 142 nm spherical structures with constant physical and chemical stability. The inhibitory role of dendrosomal curcumin on the proliferation of U87MG cells, a cellular model of glioblastoma, was evaluated by considering master genes of pluripotency and regulatory miRNA (microribonucleic acid). Methylthiazol tetrazolium assay and flow cytometry were used to detect the antiproliferative effects of dendrosomal curcumin. Annexin-V-FLUOS and caspase assay were used to quantify apoptosis. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to analyze the expression of OCT4 (octamer binding protein 4) gene variants (OCT4A, OCT4B, and OCT4B1), SOX-2 (SRY [sex determining region Y]-box 2), Nanog, and miR-145. Dendrosomal curcumin efficiently suppresses U87MG cells growth with no cytotoxicity related to dendrosome. Additionally, the accumulation of cells in the SubG(1) phase was observed in a time- and dose-dependent manner as well as higher rates of apoptosis after dendrosomal curcumin treatment. Conversely, nonneoplastic cells were not affected by this formulation. Dendrosomal curcumin significantly decreased the relative expression of OCT4A, OCT4B1, SOX-2, and Nanog along with noticeable overexpression of miR-145 as the upstream regulator. This suggests that dendrosomal curcumin reduces the proliferation of U87MG cells through the downregulation of OCT4 (octamer binding protein 4) variants and SOX-2 (SRY [sex determining region Y]-box 2) in an miR-145-dependent manner

Antihyperalgesic Effect of Eschscholzia Californica in Rat Models of Neuropathic Pain

Eschscholzia californica Cham. (Papaveraceae) is traditionally used by the Indians as a medicinal plant for its anxiolytic, anticonflict, analgesic and sedative properties. The mechanisms of action for the sedative and anxiolytic activities have not been clearly established and so to further investigate the pharmacological profile of E. californica in some painful conditions, a 70% v/v ethanol extract, DERnative=5:1, was tested in rat models of neuropathy induced by chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve (CCI), with chemotherapeutic oxaliplatin, and osteoarthritis caused by intrarticular injection of monoiodoacetate. In the CCI model evaluated in the rat paw-pressure test, the examined extract (100 mg kg−1 p.o.) showed an antihyperalgesic effect. Eschscholzia extract, after single injection at a dose of 100–300 mg kg−1 p.o., produced also a statistically significant decrease of pain perception on hyperalgesia induced by oxaliplatin and osteoarthritis, while in the same condition gabapentin did not display any antihyperalgesic effect. Furthermore, in the range of antihyperalgesic doses, the extract was efficacious in the hot-plate (thermal stimulus) and carrageenan tests (inflammatory model) without producing any behavioral impairment, as evaluated by the Irwin test. The analgesic effect exhibited by Eschscholzia extract in the mouse hot-plate test was not antagonized by naloxone, indicating that opioid neurotransmission is not involved in the effect. The above reported results suggest that a 70% (v/v) ethanol dried extract (DERnative=5:1) of E. californica might represent a promising product for the therapy of acute and chronic pain

Antibacterial activity of Tuscan Artemisia annua essential oil and its major components against some foodborne pathogens

Recently, the attention of researchers regarding Artemisia annua has been focused on the antimicrobial activity of the essential oil. This oil, rich in mono- and sesquiterpenes, has a strong activity against some Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. The aim of our study is to further contribute to the knowledge of the antibacterial activity of an Artemisia annua essential oil collected in Tuscany and its three most represented compounds (artemisia ketone, 1,8-cineole and camphor). The essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation gave a yield of 0.37% (w/w fresh plant material). The composition of the essential oil extracted from flowering aerial parts was determined by gas chromatography (GC/FID and GC/MS). The essential oil and compounds were tested for activity against Escherichia coli O157, Salmonella Enteritidis, Salmonella Typhi, Yersinia enterocolitica and Listeria monocytogenes, all of which have great significance in foodborne infections. The antibacterial activity was tested using disk diffusion method and broth microdilution assay. The microorganisms tested were all sensitive to the A. annua essential oil in toto and to all its components, which often have lower activity than oil in toto